Exclusive: Why Speaker Johnson is under pressure over Zuckerberg meeting
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Zuckerberg on March 26. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson met with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg immediately after the company was hit with two stinging legal defeats over harms to children, drawing backlash from parents who say they've been unable to get a meeting with him for two years.
Why it matters: Pressure is mounting for Capitol Hill to finally act on kids' online safety bills following a series of court losses for Big Tech companies.
- Zuckerberg is securing meetings with congressional leadership as child safety advocates say they can't get in the room.
Driving the news: Zuckerberg was spotted leaving meetings with both Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Thursday.
- Meta this week lost cases targeting social media companies over harm to children in both California (along with YouTube) and New Mexico.
ParentsSOS, a group comprised of the parents of children who died following social media use, sent Johnson a letter on Friday calling for a meeting.
- "To have prioritized a meeting with Mr. Zuckerberg rather than with the grieving parents who want to share with you stories of our children who have been victimized by his platform is incomprehensible," the group wrote in the letter shared exclusively with Axios.
- "We hope you will rectify this immediately by finally meeting with us."
The big picture: Where online kids safety legislation will ultimately land is just one of the issues plaguing Hill Republicans as they attempt to find a path forward on an AI policy package.
- The House Energy and Commerce committee recently advanced a version of the Kids Online Safety Act in a package of other kids' safety bills.
- Sources who met with Energy and Commerce staff and members this week said that following the court rulings, appetite for preempting state laws without a strong federal AI safety standard has diminished on the Hill.
What they're saying: "You can imagine our surprise and disappointment to see reports that you took a meeting yesterday afternoon with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta," Maurine Molak, the group's co-founder, wrote in the letter to Johnson.
- "It is past time for the House to approve a strong KOSA bill with a duty of care so that children will finally receive the protection they deserve."
- The House version of the Kids Online Safety Act omits a core part of the Senate's bipartisan version, a "duty of care" provision that would require platforms to take reasonable steps to mitigate harms stemming from design features like endless scroll or algorithmic recommendations.
ParentsSOS has met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
- But the group has failed to secure meetings with both Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), a source familiar with the meetings tells Axios.
The other side: Johnson's office didn't provide a comment in response to the letter.
- Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Zuckerberg also met with Jeffries on Thursday, who told reporters the two discussed AI.
